“Global food production threatens climate stability and ecosystem resilience. It constitutes the single largest driver of environmental degradation and transgression of planetary boundaries.“ At the same time, “Unhealthy diets are the leading cause of ill health worldwide, 800 million people are currently hungry, 2 billion malnourished and a further 2 billion people overweight or obese”…..Taken together the outcome is dire. A radical transformation of the global food system is urgently needed. Without action, the world risks failing to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement.“ – Lancet Commission Report, 2019.
How can we achieve this in Ireland and Europe?
We need to move all of our agricultural subsidies (EU Common Agricultural Policy CAP) to support a plant based agricultural system.
We need to end subsidies for Animal Agriculture. We need to use Public Funds for Public Goods. We should not use public funds to support a Food System that is the leading cause of biodiversity loss, climate change, violence to animals, and human ill health.
We need to restore our native forests, native grasslands, bogs and wetlands to cover at least 50% of the total Land Area. Increasing tree cover, biodiversity and changing to plant based agriculture allows us to return land to nature, restore biodiversity, and reduce emissions, while still feeding more people.
Who Are We?
Nature Rising is a non-political sustainability advocacy group that is part of an International Movement. We are bringing together individuals, experts, and organisations across Ireland concerned about the environment, health, and animal rights to put pressure on the government to stop the multi-billion euro subsidies that go to animal agriculture.
We all recognize the catastrophic, irreversible damage animal agriculture is already having on the planet and its inhabitants, but it’s unlikely that any one of us can force the government to stop funding it on our own. This is why Nature Rising exists – to unite us all in a single realistic achievable goal that has the potential for a major positive impact for people, animals and nature. To change everything we need everyone involved.
Farmers and Land Owners are key to a Sustainable Future
A plant based food system will allow people to be able to make a living as farmers and will substantially increase employment and incomes on family farms. That’s why we are proposing that subsidies are moved from Animal Agriculture to either Plant Based Agriculture or Payments for Ecosystems/Biodiversity Restoration.
Farmer Incomes could Increase for 70% of all Farmers
By allowing farmers who transition their farm to ecosystem services to keep their CAP subsidies, average incomes for over 70% of farmers would increase and incomes for tillage farmers would stay the same. However incomes for most dairy farmers would decrease by an average of 34% (2018). There are examples of plant based farmers who have increased their incomes by going plant based. For this reason we have outlined a range of successful plant based farming models that can be implemented in Ireland.
Why Nature Rising?
Please see the slides below which illustrate just a few of the main harmful impacts of animal agriculture and the transformational impacts of Plant Based Agricultural Systems and Ecosystem Restoration on Biodiversity, Climate Change, Food Security, Antibiotic use, Pesticides and Farmer Incomes. You can also check out our Facts & Statistics here. Farmed animals also endure suffering and their short lives always end in slaughter. You can read more here.
Please view our slides below.
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